'True Women' book spotlights Seguin's strongest

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

The Seguin Chamber of Commerce has organized a tour to coincide with the book's details.

June 26, 2003 -- Every family has its stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, and Seguin has its own claim to famous Texas women as recounted in the book "True Women," written by Janice Woods Windle.

Born on Jan. 31, 1831, Euphemia Texas Ashby King became part of an amazing history of strong, Texas women.

At a period when the Republic of Texas had recently won it's independence from Spain (1821), this family of strong-willed women became part of a saga that crossed time frames from 1831 until 1946.

In the earlier years, while husbands and fathers were otherwise occupied fighting at the Alamo and protecting their families from local Indians, they continued trying to make a living in the cotton fields. Many of the families originated in the Southern States, but moved to the Republic of Texas seeking a new life and cheap land.

It is believed the "Old South" ended in the area since the plantations established were few and far between, and 30 percent of the county's population were African-American slaves, brought from the South, according to Sequin's historical accounts.

According to history, "thousands of women and children" fled Santa Anna's approaching army, after the Alamo fell on March 6, 1836. This meant picking up all of the younger children, tending to all of the animals they had acquired, except for the horses the men had ridden into battles, and moving to a safer ground.

These fleeing women were told that the safest place for them would be in a state that was a part of the United States, so with as much as they could carry in available wagons and on their backs, the women set out walking across the land.

Since King's mother died when King was very young, her older sister, Sarah, (who was still a teenager, but married with children), reared her and led her on the adventures into womanhood, as the Republic of Texas became a state of the Union.

As one of the oldest towns in Texas, Seguin was laid out as a settlement in 1838 by a group of "frontier" Rangers (which evolved into Texas Rangers) along the Guadalupe River. The river, itself, provided a safety avenue for the women who sometimes crossed over to hide from the Indians or other foes; or the Rangers would offer their assistance to the women, since many lost husbands and fathers to the Indians or Mexican army.

On Dec. 29, 1845, Texas became a part of the United States, and the women of Seguin had new hurdles to conquer.

The women in author Windle's family tree were hard-working, strong-minded women who were determined to make a go of their lives in Texas, in spite of all obstacles.

Some of the women were good at working on the farms, and some were expert horsewomen. Others picked up the slack in the homes, helping to restore and rebuild after various Indian and Mexican attacks.

Just as their lives were getting back to normal, in 1861, Texas joined Southern states and seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy.

Once, again, husbands and fathers disappeared and left the Seguin women at home to take care of people and property. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the group of women had become know as "True Women," and the name stuck.

They had the reputation as strong-willed women, and as Texas re-built after the Civil War, the generations of women refused to be pushed around by Reconstruction and the men who came down to try and run Texas.

They fought for woman suffrage until it was passed in 1918. Throughout the years, the "True Women" from Seguin gained the reputation as "can-do" women. There was nothing they wouldn't try, and there was nothing they couldn't accomplish. It is a heritage that will follow the ancestors of the original group forever.

(For more information and tour information concerning "True Women," contact the Seguin Chamber of Commerce at 800-580-7322 or www.seguintx.org.)